Assistant Principal's Report

Helping our Children Build Long Term Happiness Part 3

In my last newsletter article I continued to explain how we can implement and teach happiness habits and practices through the acronym ‘FLOURISH’. Wanting the best for our children is incredibly important for our community and this includes wanting our children to be happy. This continues to be a conversation I have with many members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community. As parents we are always aware that there are many factors both globally and locally that have the potential to influence the happiness of everybody around us. It is important to remember that within the family we can still influence long term happiness and this is something we can control.

Once again I refer to the Parenting Ideas website for guidance and long term happiness. In the article ‘Helping kids build lasting happiness’ by Dr. Jodie Richardson, it highlights how we can teach happiness by implementing and teaching happiness habits and practices using the acronym ‘FLOURISH’. This stands for:

- Flow

- Laughter and Play

- Optimism

- Unite for Family meals

- Relationships

- Intensive exercise

-Self Regulation 

- Helping Others

For this fortnight we will look at Relationships and Intensive Exercise.

Relationships

I recently had a conversation with a parent about the three aspects of life that they thought were essential to achieve balance. The three areas were Personal, Professional and Social. He said that as human beings we are social by nature and that it is healthy to have healthy relationships with others. It is also one of the three areas that we can sometimes neglect.

Dr Richardson states that having more friends and good relationships is a strong predictor of happiness both in childhood and later in life. This can be encouraged through boosting your child’s social networks by opening your home to their friends. Regular discussions with your children about spending time with friends from various social groups and encouraging them to connect in person and in a safe online environment will also help to strengthen their relationships. 

Intensive Exercise

Research suggests that children need at least an hour a day of exercise, preferably outside and including high intensity fun such as running, jumping, skipping and playing ball games. Exercise promotes the production of ‘feel-good’ chemicals called endorphins that encourage happiness and reduce stress levels. Encourage your children to make connections between the physical activity they participate in and how good they feel during and afterwards. This will help to encourage exercise as a lifelong practice. We also know that if parent’s model regular exercise, their children are more likely to also develop a healthy and regular exercise routine. 

These two suggestions can be applied to promote long term happiness in our children. In the upcoming newsletter entry I will address the remaining elements of self-regulation and helping others. 

Mr Welsh 

Assistant Principal Wellbeing